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Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:12 PM EST
Region gets governor’s ear
By RICK MILLER
Olean Times Herald
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| New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (second from left) talks with Louis Magnano, president and CEO of Park Centre Development (from left), Olean Mayor David Carucci and state Senator Catharine Young while touring the future home of a 600-employee call center at Park Centre's building on Wayne Street in Olean. Photo by Darrell Gronemeier |
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OLEAN - Gov. Eliot Spitzer came to Olean Wednesday to listen to local officials and tour redevelopment sites in Olean the state is helping to fund.
Meeting with community officials from the public and private sectors Wednesday morning at the Cattaraugus County Campus of Jamestown Community College, Gov. Spitzer gave a brief plug for his Upstate Revitalization Plan, then listened to officials’ concerns.
The governor’s roundtable meeting with about 30 local officials in the JCC Library Classroom Building was closed to the news media. Questions reportedly ranged from health care and education to job creation and taxes. Participants said the governor was articulate and well-prepared with his answers.
“It was very informative,” said County Legislator John Padlo, D-Olean. “It was great to have the governor and the upstate development czar (Dan Gunderson) here to hear our concerns.”
County Legislature Chairman Crystal Abers stood to ask the governor how the county can absorb the impact of $2.6 million in projected cuts in Medicaid reimbursement.
“It’s going to cost us,” she said later.
Counties are pinning their hopes on state lawmakers taking some of the sting out of the governor’s budget cuts, she added.
“If it gets shifted down to the county level, it’s coming out of someone else’s pockets,” she said.
County Legislature Minority Leader Linda Witte, D-Olean, commended the governor on his Upstate Revitalization Plan.
Olean Mayor David Carucci said the governor was “very articulate and answered a broad range of questions” during the community leaders roundtable at JCC.
“This is a big thing for Olean,” he said.
During the time the mayor had alone with Gov. Spitzer, he made two requests: State Community Block Grant funding for the city’s First Time Homebuyer Program, which the city got left out of last year, and funding for the $4 million to $5 million Two Mile Creek sewer line that will be critical in developing the former Agway-Felmont site.
After driving by the former Agway-Felmont site on Buffalo Street - purchased two months ago by Exxon-Mobil - Gov. Spitzer toured the former Cattaraugus Empire Zone incubator building on Wayne Street that is being converted by Park Centre Development Corp. into a call center that will employ up to 600 people.
Mayor Carucci said Olean fits the blueprint for many of Gov. Spitzer’s programs under his Upstate Revitalization Plan. He noted the First Time Homebuyer Program could help the call center’s employees buy homes in the city.
Thomas Livak, director of the Cattaraugus County Department of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism, said the state is often an important partner in local development projects.
“Without their incentives, this deal with the call center would not fly,” Mr. Livak said.
Park Centre Development president Louis Magnano, who purchased the building, and Fred Weiner, the chief executive officer of The Connection, a Minnesota-based company, showed the governor around the building that has been gutted for the call center.
Mr. Magnano said his crews would have the building ready for call center employees in 60 days.
“It’s going to be a good building,” Mr. Weiner told the governor. “It’s in a good spot. Louie has done a great job pulling the deal together.”
Mr. Magnano said to Gov. Spitzer, “Olean is on the upswing.”
“We can write checks, but what you are providing is much harder,” the governor told Mr. Magnano. “What else can we do?”
Mr. Magnano thought a moment and replied, “We need something in Salamanca. We need an intersection.”
Mr. Magnano is a partner in a company seeking to build retail space on property off Interstate 86 near State Park Avenue.
The Connection has a similar call center in nearby Jamestown, its first such facility in New York state.
The decision to expand to Olean came down to a couple of things, Mr. Weiner said - education and available workers.
“It’s the combination of education and work ethic that makes a difference (here),” he said.
Gov. Spitzer said the call center project was “a tribute to the dedication of the community. Anything more we can do, we’ll be here.”
He also applauded plans by Exxon-Mobil to clean up the Agway-Felmont brownfield site on 62 acres off Buffalo Street. The state provided a $1 million Restore New York grant to the city to demolish buildings on the 62-acre site, and Exxon-Mobil has promised to commit $1.5 million. The cleanup at the site will cost the company millions more. It is the successor to the old Sacony Vacuum Co., which once operated an oil refinery there.
“We are very honored and privileged that Gov. Spitzer took the time to visit our community,” said John Sayegh, who heads the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce and also attended the community leaders roundtable. “We are very encouraged with the assistance they have provided for the call center and Agway-Felmont.”
Mr. Sayegh said he has seen much community support for Gov. Spitzer’s Upstate Revitalization Plan.
“We look forward to accessing new state funds for community development.”
He also spoke of the Two Mile sewer line as critical for the development of the Agway-Felmont property.
Olean Common Council President Rick Smith noted city taxpayers needed some relief from the state pension costs of city employees.
Another development project Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Planning Board is proposing that could be critical to future growth in the region is a multi-modal rail exchange project.
The multi-modal rail station would not only be important to current rail shippers, but the Olean area could become a hub for a rail and trucking transportation distribution center.
After leaving Olean, Gov. Spitzer attended a similar community leaders meeting for Allegany County officials at Moonwinks Restaurant in Cuba.
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